Not King Charles or Princess Kate — Surprise Royal Logs the Most Expensive Trip of the Year
New royal financial records show Prince William's visit to Saudi Arabia cost more than any other royal journey this year.
In a historic move, King Charles revealed his personal tax bill, becoming the first British monarch to do so. As the Royal Household's annual financial report was recently made public, the figures for the many royal trips taken by members of the Firm were also revealed. However, among the most expensive journeys, Prince William's Saudi Arabia trip topped the list, surpassing even Charles's and Princess Kate's.
As per Independent, William's official trip to Saudi Arabia has landed at the top of this year's list of the most expensive royal visits, making it the first time one of his tours has taken the top spot since Charles became King. The Prince of Wales spent three days in Saudi Arabia in February 2026 on behalf of the UK government. The visit cost $1,71,700 (£1,30,100), with the total also covering two advance planning trips. That was just enough to edge past the $1,67,500 (£1,26,900) spent on travel for Charles and Queen Camilla's four-day state visit to Italy in April 2025.
Covering the 12 months through March 2026, the report breaks down every royal trip with travel costs of at least $26,400 (£20,000). The previous three annual reports, spanning 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25, all had Charles and Camilla's overseas visits as the most expensive. This year's report only includes trips costing £20,000 or more, which is an increase from the previous $19,300 threshold, so it is not possible to make a direct comparison with earlier years.
Overall, 37 royal journeys made the list for the 12 months ending in March 2026. Charles was involved in 13 of them, with 11 taking place within the UK. Among them were four royal train trips for official engagements, with visits to Lancaster in June 2025 ($63,900), Staffordshire in October ($45,000), Dartmouth in December ($49,400), and Clitheroe, Lancashire, in February 2026 ($53,700). However, Buckingham Palace announced that it will stop the royal train service from 2027 to save money.
The same report also showed that the King paid $17.03 million (£12.9 million) in tax for the 2024-25 financial year. Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales also revealed that he paid $10.24 million (£7.76 million) in income tax and capital gains tax during the same period. Overall, the figures showed that Charles has paid more than $39.60 million (£30 million) in tax since taking the throne in 2022. Kensington Palace added that William has paid more than $26.40 million (£20 million) since becoming Prince of Wales.
Keeper of the Privy Purse and King’s personal treasurer James Chalmers said, “Preserving our traditions, delivering for today and driving change for the future is a delicate balance, but one we are determined to get right.”
